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Greco Roman and Catch as Catch Can, epic battles and Carny scams. Why were there two Strangler Lewises? What’s a Hippodrome? Find out when you listen, learn, and party with Nick and Heidi Howitzer: The Pro Wrestling History Nerds!
Episodes
Tuesday Oct 12, 2021
Tuesday Oct 12, 2021
He was a stranger in a strange land. A sumo wrestler with dreams of bringing American Pro Wrestling back to Japan. What could possibly go wrong?
Join Nick and Chango as they explore the adventures of the first Japanese Pro Wrestler: Sorakichi Matsuda!
This episode has been re-uploaded with better sound quality.
Source Materials:
-Japanese Professional Wrestling Pioneer: Sorakichi Matsuda, by Joseph R Svinth. https://ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_Svinth1_1100.htm
-The Pioneers: Sorakichi Matsuda, by Jamie Greer
-William Muldoon: The Solid Man Conquers Wrestling and Physical Culture. by Ken Zimmerman jr
-Evan "The Strangler" Lewis: The Most Feared Wrestler of the 19th Century, by Ken ZImmerman Jr
-Cited newspapers from Library of Congress online Archive.
Tuesday Sep 28, 2021
Tuesday Sep 28, 2021
Illegal fights! Bar Brawls! Death and disability! And... a pair of wooden clogs?
Join Nick and Chango as they explore Catch wrestling's evil bastard cousin, Up and Down Wrestling!
Primary Source: The Story of Catch: The Story of Lancashire Catch as Catch Can Wrestling: First Fifty Years 1820-1870, by Ruslan C Pashayev
Tuesday Sep 14, 2021
Tuesday Sep 14, 2021
There are bad ideas, there are terrible ideas, and then there's the Brawl For All. How did a behind the scenes grudge turn into a tv trainwreck that left careers, mystique, bodies, and the entire illusion of pro wrestling wrecked beyond repair. What went wrong? Could anything have gone right? Nick and Chango dive in head first to find out!
Tuesday Aug 31, 2021
Tuesday Aug 31, 2021
The plan was in place, the card stacked according to the promoter's plan. Things were about to get wild in ways that would change combat sports forever. Today, Nick and Chango talk about the VHS tape they never forgot: The First UFC!
Sources:
-"Promoter Issues Invitation". Black Belt Magazine November 1994.
-Shamrock: The World's Most Dangerous Man, by Jonathan Snowden
-Zane Frazier: Why I was Invited to Fight at UFC1. Interview with Dave Mandel from Sherdog.com
-Art Jimmeson, Where Is He Now? Interview with Jordan Breen from Sherdog.com
-Still King of the Hill (Royce Gracie Interview with Sandra E. Kessler) Black Belt Magazine, August 1994.
-UFC 1: The Beginning: Playboy, Mortal Kombat, and the Hunt for an Ultimate Fighter. by Alex Bysouth, BBC Sports.
-Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in Action, vol 1 & 2
-UFC Fightpass content
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
How was the first UFC a carny trick with the intent of working the marks? Who were the people behind the scenes, planning a martial arts bonanza that accidentally birthed the hottest fighting sport in the world? How are the roots of pro wrestling and MMA pretty much identical? Listen to Nick and Chango tell the tale, and find out!
Sources:
-"Promoter Issues Invitation". Black Belt Magazine November 1994.
-Shamrock: The World's Most Dangerous Man, by Jonathan Snowden
-Zane Frazier: Why I was Invited to Fight at UFC1. Interview with Dave Mandel from Sherdog.com
-Art Jimmeson, Where Is He Now? Interview with Jordan Breen from Sherdog.com
-Still King of the Hill (Royce Gracie Interview with Sandra E. Kessler) Black Belt Magazine, August 1994.
-UFC 1: The Beginning: Playboy, Mortal Kombat, and the Hunt for an Ultimate Fighter. by Alex Bysouth, BBC Sports.
-Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in Action, vol 1 & 2
-UFC Fightpass content
Tuesday Aug 03, 2021
Tuesday Aug 03, 2021
Is it karate, or is it kayfabe? Are they fighters, or are they frauds? The 70s and 80s were filled with martial arts "masters" selling BS from Kung Fu movies to the public. But what happens when we look back upon those days with the magic of internet fact checking? Nick and Chango look back on when martial arts were pro wrestling!
Sources:
-Ninja: Hero or fake master? LA Times, 05/01/1989
-Frank William Dux: Cold Case Getting Warmer, published on militaryphony.com
-November, 1980 issue of Black Belt Magazine
Tuesday Jul 20, 2021
Tuesday Jul 20, 2021
Match fixing! Working the marks! Carny scams! Nick and Chango go through press clippings that exposed the wrestling business as a work, going back to the 1880s. What makes us gamble on fixed games? Why are athletic commissions important? Would Nick and Chango be old time carnies if they had a time machine?
Listen and find out!
-All articles sourced from the Library of Congress digital archive.
Tuesday Jul 06, 2021
Tuesday Jul 06, 2021
He was a six foot six war hero and football star, who was poised to take pro wrestling into a new era of box office success. There was just one problem: he couldn't wrestle for real.
He's the most important wrestler that you've never heard of, it's Big Wayne Munn!
Printed Sources:
-Library of Congress digital newspaper archive
-Hooker, by Lou Thesz
-Shooters: The Toughest Men in Profession Wrestling, by Jonathan Snowden
-Sean Sweeny's biography of Wayne Munn at http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profile/wayne-munn/
Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
He was a wrestler, he was a con artist, he was a tackler of bears, he was a drunken crime baron, and possibly...a murderer?
This is the "Are you kidding me? This can't be real!" story of a man who pushed the credulity of wrestling to the breaking point, until the press was forced to out wrestling as a predetermined scam. It's the story of Thiebaud Bauer!
Sources:
-Library of Congress digital newspaper archive
-Biography of Professor Thiebaud Bauer
Author: Jimmy Wheeler. Published on prowrestlinghistoricalsociety.com
-Fakirs At Work: Chapter Two.
Authors: Harry Grover, Published on prowrestlinghistoricalsociety.com
Tuesday Jun 08, 2021
Tuesday Jun 08, 2021
Brutal combat to honor the gods, the search for sponsors and money, and being handsome and tough enough to put butts in seats! Ever try to cheat with a magic spell? Ever wonder if the amateur status of the modern Olympic games was intended as class warfare against the working class?
Well, strap in and put on your learning helmets, because Nick and Chango have some crazy stories for you!
Printed sources:
-Combat Sports in the Ancient World: Competition, Violence, and Culture. by Michael B Poliakoff
-Submission Fighting and the Rules of Ancient Greek Wrestling By Christopher Miller
-Sports in Ancient Times, by Nigel B Crowther
-The Martial Arts of Ancient Greece, by Kostas Dervenis and Nektaroios Lykiardopoulos